Improvement in knitting-machines



UNITED STATES PATENT M. T. LAMB, OF VALPARAISO, INDIANA, ASSIGNOR T() HIMSELF AND ISAAC V. LAMB.

IMPROVEMENT IN KNlTTlNG-WlACHlNES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 55,420, dated June :3, 1366.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, Rev. M. T. LAMB, of Valparaiso, in the county ot' Porter and State of Indiana, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Knitting-Machines 5 and Ido hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description thereof, which will enable others skilled in the art to make and use the same,reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ot' this speciti cation, in which- Figure l represents a front view of a machine oi' the kind known as Lambs knittingmachine,77 showing my improvement applied thereto. Fig. 2 is a top view of the machine, one end beingpartly broken away, showing my improvement as seen from above.

This invention relates to that class of knitting-machines which employs straight rows ot' needles, and it is here shown applied to a knitting-machine like that represented in the VLetters Patent granted to J. W. Lamb, October l0, 1865.

My invention consists, irst, in a counting device attached to a knitting-machine to assist the operator in shaping articles knitted there on. In operating suoli machines-taking, for the purpose of illustration, Lambs knittingmachinethe operator is compelled to count the number of revolutions ofthe crank or the number of reciprocations ot' the sliding carriage which are made in producing each portion oi' any article which is in the process of being knitted-as, for example., in making a mans stocking, average size, the crank is turned around sixty times to form the foot, twenty times for the heel, and one hundred and twenty times for the leg. By means of my improvement the number of revolutions ot the crank is registered or counted by mechanical means. The example ot' this part of myinventien herein setforth consists of a ratchet-dial attached to the sliding carriage in such a way that a spring-catch or other suitable device turns the dial the distance of one tooth every time the machine or sliding carriage arrives at one end of its movement. A bar iixed on the axis of the dial is extended across its face, so that the number of revolutions of the crank or reeiprocations of the carriage will be indicated by the relative positions of the dial with respect to the bar, the tace of the dial being divided by numbered lilies, and the feed-bar answering the office et' an index.

Thisimprovementconsists,secondly,inmeans for facilitating the operation ot' producing work upon both rows ot' needles and having` the work so produced united at one end ot' the rows and separated at the other end. In the example here shown ot` this part et' my invention the means I employ consists ot' a bent rod or wire, which I have called a changer, whose ends are attached to the shifters that change the cams. It extends thence over or alongside the sliding carriage toward its lett hand end, where it is seized and operated by the attendant with the let't hand, while the crank is turned with the right.

The letters C D designate the slidingearriage ofaLamb knitting-machine. A A are needleplates, which ieceive the knitting-needles in grooves a.. The sliding carriage is mounted upon the needle-plates and is held thereon by gibs D D', which are fastened to the bed ot' the machine and are applied in such a way as to allow the carriage to be rcciprocated above the needle-plates by means ot' the connectingrod C', the crank C2, and the shaft C3.

I3 is a dial with ratchet-teeth cut on its periphery, and attached to the face ot' one of the sides ot' the sliding carriage. I have shown it in this illustration attached to the side C, the pin on which the dial turns and which connects it with the carriage going` also through the latch-opener i. The t'ace ot' the dial is marked with a succession of figures that indicate the number of ratchet-teeth cnt on its periphery.

F is a spring catch or linger tixed upon that gib D which is on the right-hand side of the machine, and extending over the edge or top of the part C ofthe sliding carriage far enough to engage the ratchet-teeth of the dial. The tinger F may be adjustably attached, so that compensation may be lnade for wear.

E is a pointer or index fixed to the pin on which the dial turns, and extending radially, but always in the saine direction, over the face of the dial toward its edge.

The spring catch or tinger F is placed a little space to the left of the termination ot' the movement ofthe sliding carriage when it completes its movement toward the right-hand side, where it will engage the edge ofthe dial and causeV the latter to revolve through a space equal to the distance between the left edge ot' the linger and the terminal point in the said movement of the carriage. The dial will therefore strike against the finger only once for every full revolution of the crank, and consequently will be advanced one tooth on the completion of each revolution. By this'means the dial is made to indicate, in conjunction with its fixed index, the number ot' revolutions of the crank, or, in otherwords, the number of times around which have been knitted on the stocking from a given point, without requiring any other attention in this behalf on the part of the attendant than to observe the dial.

The manner of using the counting device is as follows: After a piece of work has been begun--as, for example, if a stocking is being knit, after its toe has been widened out-the operator looks at thc dial to see what number is opposite the index, or, if he prefers, he may turn the dial around until the ligure l is opposite the index. lf the operator desires to knit sixty times around to form the foot of the stocking, the crank is turned until sixty numbers have passed the index, or, if the first tooth ofthe ratchet is found under the index when the counting begins, until the figures G0 arebroughtbeneath it. The dial mayhave sixty teeth cut on its edge, and, since sixty is the number of rows most commonly required in the foot of a mans stocking, it follows that in such a case the dial will make one revolution during the knitting of the foot of such a stocking. When the heel has been set the crank is turned until the dial has moved through the space of twenty teeth. The leg will usually be of proper length when the dial has been turned twice around, making one hundred and twenty revolutions of the crank.

The invention may be varied in the form without departing from the principle thereof, which consists, essentially, in causing the number of turns of the crank or the number of reciprocations of the machine to be automatically in dicated by any suitable apparatus. The apparatus here shown only indicates to the eye how many turns the crank has made, but it may be made also to indicate the same by sound.

The second part of my invention relates to means for operatie g devices which in the Lamb knitting machine control the positions ofthe needle-operating cams. The needles in that machine are moved up and down in their grooves a by a system of cams placed on the under side of the parts C of the sliding carriage, the central one, r, of which is shifted by a sliding plate or shifter', l), which is itself moved upon the carriage by means of adjustable stops H on the end of the machine. When the sliding plate or shifter of the part G of the sliding carriage is moved toward the left its movement causes the central Vshaped cam, r, to descend to a lower position, where it will engage the butts d ofthe needles and operate the needles to produce a row of knittin 0'. When the shifter 19 is moved toward the rightit causes the cam r to rise above the line, where it can engage the butts of the needles, and in that case the sliding` carriage moves over the needle-plate A without operating the needles of that plate. If the stop H on the left-hand end is down,the shifter will remain down, and consequently the cam r will continue in its lowest position, in which it will again engage the butts of the needles. The reverse movements will take place in the shifting plate and cam of the part D ot' the earriage, considering the observer to remain on the same side of the machine with the crank. If the stops H of the machine are so set that the cams r of the parts C and D are brought down alternately, the needles of the needleplate A will be operated during one half of the revolution of the crank and those of the needle-plate A during the other half of that revolution, and so on continuously, thereby producing a tubular web, the yarn being fed first to one set of needles and then to the other. If the stops are so set that the cam r of part D of the carriage remains down while the crank is making the lirst half of its next revolution, the needles of plate A will be again operated, and if that cam is then raised and the cam r of part G is lowered the needles of plate A will be operated during the latter part of the revolution. If the cam of part C remains down during the rsthalf of the next revolution, the needles of plate A will again be operated, and if the cams be then changed the knitting will be again transferred to the side D of the machine.

If the cams are changed from time to time so as to operate the two sets of needles in the way last described, the cloth produced will be equal to twice the width of one row of needles, being united at one end of the rows but separated at the other end. In order to accomplish this character of work upon such a knittin g-machine, I attach to the shifters that change the said cams a rod or wire, G, extending toward the left end or side of the machine, as seen in the drawings, the ends of the rod being bent down so as to enter holes made through the shifters near their lower edges.'

In operating with this device, which I call a changer,7 I turn down the stops H at the right-hand end of the machine, in which case the back row of needles alone would be operated if the crank were turned without subsequent changes of the stops, producing a plain or flat web on that row. Supposing thework to be already begun with the stops so arranged, the crank in the next place is turned to the left-hand end of the stroke. Then with the left hand take hold of the rod Gand pull it toward the left, while with the right hand the crank is turned through a small part of a revolution. The result will be that the cams r of both sides C D of the sliding carriage are shifted when they are at the left-hand end of the stroke, just as they would be changed at the right hand end it' the stops were not turned down, and

consequen t-ly as the carriage proceeds from the left to the right hand end of its movement the front row of needles are operated because the cam r of the part C is down the same as it would be if the shifter 19 had struck against the stop H on the rightfhand end ofthe frame. The carriage being then moved from right to left, the front row of needles will be again operated. When it reaches the left end of its movement the cam-stops H cause the cams l) to be changed, that of the front side, C. being' pushed up out of the ivay of the butts of the needles, While that of the back side, D, is brought down, and the next revolution of the crank will cause the back row of needles to be operated down and back. When the carriage has reached the left-hand end of its movement the rod G is again seized, and, the rotation ofthe crank being continued, the cams will be again shifted, so that the front row of needles are again operated, first toward the right and then toward the left, as before. When the carriage has again reached the left end ot' its movement the cam-stops H will shift the cams r, and the knitting proceeds down and back on the back row of needles. The Work is continued in this Way, the attendant holding the rod or changer with his left hand and shifting the cams at the left-hand end of the movement at every second revolution of the crank. The Work thereby produced will be of a width equal to both rows ot' needles.

rllhe changer may he in one piece, and may be attached to the shitters in such a way as to be readily taken oi when other kinds of knitting are to be produced.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patentl. Attaching the counter to the slidingframe in such a mannerthat the movement of the sliding trame Will carry the teeth of the dial against a stationary paivl or ratchet, substantially as and for the purpose herein described.

2. The changer G, consisting ot' a bent wire or its equivalent attached at its ends to the eam-shit'ters p, and so placed that the operator can operate it With one hand while he turns the machine with the other, substantially as described.

3. Constructing and applying the changer G to the cam-Shifters p ot' a knitting-machine in such a way that it can bercmoved at pleasure without alteration in the machine, substantially as shown.

M. T. LAMB.

Witnesses:

L. H. MENDEVILLE, A. D. CUNNINGHAM. 

